2012 European Le Mans Series season

2012 Le Mans Series season
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The 2012 Le Mans Series season will be the ninth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. Championship titles will be awarded in five categories, with the Le Mans Series shifting its categories following its separation from the FIA World Endurance Championship. LMP1 cars will no longer be allowed to compete in the series, while a new GTC category will be created to allow single make grand tourer cars to compete in endurance races. The season will be contested over five rounds, starting in Le Castellet, France on 1 April and ending at Portimão, Portugal, on 4 November.

Contents

Schedule

Following the Le Mans Series' decision to no longer share races with the FIA World Endurance Championship (formerly the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup), the series required new races to replace the Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone races which now were part of the WEC. Circuit Zolder now serves as the Belgian round, while the rebuilt Donington Park circuit becomes the British round of the championship, having previously been on the Le Mans Series calendar in 2006. The Brno Circuit brings the Czech Republic to the championship for the first time, while the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve returns to the Le Mans Series for the first time since 2010 Le Mans Series season. The Circuit Paul Ricard is the only event carried over from 2011 and remains the traditional season opener. All races are six hours in length.[1]

Rnd Race Circuit Date
- Official Test Session Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 9–10 March
1 6 Hours of Castellet Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 1 April
2 6 Hours of Zolder Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium 20 May
3 6 Hours of Donington Donington Park, Leicestershire, United Kingdom 15 July
4 6 Hours of Brno Brno Circuit, Brno, Czech Republic 9 September
5 6 Hours of Algarve Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal 4 November

Regulation changes

The Le Mans Series will make changes to its class structure for the 2012 season, eliminating one previous class while adding another. The LMP1 Le Mans Prototype category will no longer be featured in LMS races due to the large amount of LMP1 factory teams which will be from the Le Mans Series to the World Endurance Championship. This move promotes the LMP2 category to the top of the class structure. To replace LMP1, a new class has been created at the bottom of the class structure, named GTC. This class will allow only three cars from various one make series to compete: The Ferrari 458 Challenge, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and the Lotus Evora GT4. Teams in GTC will not be allowed more than one professional driver in their line-up.[2] Finally, the Formula Le Mans category will be renamed LMP Challenge, aligning with the title utilized by the American Le Mans Series.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Tracks for Drivers...". Le Mans Series. 2011-11-22. http://www.lemans-series.com/en/s03_actualites/s03p02_detail_actualite.php?news=2035. Retrieved 2011-11-28. 
  2. ^ Dagys, John (2011-11-10). "LE MANS: LMS Confirms GTC Class For 2012". speedtv.com. Speed Channel. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/le-mans-lms-confirms-gtc-for-2012/. Retrieved 2011-11-29. 
  3. ^ Dagys, John (2011-09-08). "LE MANS: ACO, ORECA Launch LMPC Trophy". speedtv.com. Speed Channel. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/le-mans-aco-oreca-launch-lmpc-trophy/. Retrieved 2011-11-29. 

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